A Side Effect of Celebrity

One

Long-time friends are family that we choose – Patrick Regan

If there was one thing that Claire Shaffer was really good at, it was getting dumped in unconventional ways.

The first time she'd been broken up with, she'd been a freshman in high school. The boy she'd been dating, Farad Nazrul, had decided that he didn't know how to properly do a breakup and so he'd enlisted Claire's best friend, Ellie, to terminate the relationship for him. And yes, that was the word he'd used. Terminate. As if it were a contract, instead of an actual relationship.

The second time, had a little over a year later. Claire had been dating Robert Young, a boy in her math class, for nearly six weeks. She'd gone over to his house and had been met at the door by his mother who had broken up with Claire on Robert's behalf.

Claire thought that the third time was really the worst, if only because she'd lost her job at the same time. Well, perhaps losing her job was a bit of an exaggeration. She'd quit, if only because she and Andrew Giuseppe Bartolini couldn't figure out how to get past the awkwardness that arose whenever they worked together at the rather nice Italian restaurant that Andrew's parents owned. Instead, Claire had gone to work at a steakhouse for the summer which didn't turn out too badly because she had made excellent tips.

And now, to round out her history of breakups, Claire had been dumped over text. It had arrived in the middle of the night too, as if her boyfriend – ex-boyfriend, she corrected mentally – hadn't wanted to even discuss the matter. Instead, she'd woken up expecting a lovely 'good morning' message from Jordan and instead found herself single.

Really, she'd just hit an all-time low.

Claire stared at her phone, at the message thread that ended with the words 'I don't think this is working out. Maybe we should just be friends.'

You don't mean that, Claire thought with an edge of bitterness. No one ever really wanted to stay friends. It was just something said for the sake of courtesy. Not because it would actually happen.

Still, she had liked Jordan. Okay, maybe she hadn't foreseen them working out long-term but he was nice enough and a decent kisser. Though, if she was being honest, it was probably better for them to end things now rather than later. Jordan was leaving for college at the end of the summer and unlike Claire – who was staying close to home in New York for her college experience – he would be heading away to Texas.

It didn't mean that she enjoyed being dumped any less. Especially by a text.

God, she thought. I need to get out of here.

Claire felt the need to get up, to move and be far, far away from this moment. She got ready as quickly as she could, throwing on a pair of cut-off jeans and a flowy green top. Deftly, her fingers combed through her hair to French braid it in a chestnut-coloured plait as she made to leave her bedroom – pausing in the bathroom only long enough to brush her teeth.

She paused in the entryway of the apartment that she shared with her parents in Park Slope only long enough to shove her feet into a pair of sneakers before throwing the door open wide. Claire didn't bother to shout goodbye to her parents since neither of them were home, despite the early hour.

Her father – Tom – was a financial manager to a major tech corporation while her mother – Alice – spent most of her days at the antique store she co-owned and operated with her childhood best friend Amy. Alice and Amy's Antiquities had become a staple in the Upper East Side and many frequented the shop when in search of repurposed and vintage pieces.